A woman entangled in a high-profile paternity and property dispute with former Machakos Senator Johnson Muthama now faces forgery charges at the Milimani Law Courts.
Nina Maria Wanjiku, Muthama’s estranged partner, allegedly forged a birth certificate on January 28, 1998, in Nairobi. According to the prosecution, she created the document – certificate number 300868 – with the intent to deceive, falsely presenting it as an official birth certificate issued by the Civil Registrar in Thika.
Wanjiku also faces a second charge of forgery of a document. Detectives allege that she forged the doctored birth certificate at the Nairobi Immigration Office on May 21, 1998, and presented it as authentic.
Appearing before Magistrate Ben Mark Ekhubi on Friday, Nina Maria Wanjiku claimed that the forgery case is being weaponized against her in a longstanding matrimonial property battle with Muthama, currently before the High Court.
Wanjiku voiced her frustration with the police, saying she has been forced to travel from her home in Mtwapa, Mombasa, more than 800 kilometers away, to Nairobi to record statements multiple times.
“The complainant is using the justice system to frustrate me,” she told the court. She added that the constant police summons have drained her financially and disrupted her day-to-day life.
Wanjiku further alleged that during her arrest, officers coercively took her to Nairobi with her seven-year-old grandson.
She said her court cases with Muthama have taken more than a decade and wondered why she was arrested by the authorities when she has always been cooperative with police investigations.
Wanjiku entered a not-guilty plea to the charges and was released on a cash bail of KSh 50,000. The court also ordered her to give two contact persons as part of the bail conditions.
Muthama is listed as the first prosecution witness in the case.
